It is known to use for such purposes a container having a hermetically sealing lid which is provided with a check valve. By means of a suction pump, a partial vacuum may be created within the container, the air being withdrawn via the check valve which will open during the pumping action. Due to the reduced air pressure, waste of the goods will at least be delayed.
In one such device, the check valve is made of sealing material and simultaneously serves the purpose to sealingly engage the suction inlet of a pump.
It is also known to provide in the container lid a valve to be actuated manually. A piston pump may be thread-connected with a threaded flange which forms the valve body. The user is expected to open the valve by a rotational movement, to pull the piston so to evacuate the container and then to close the valve by making a return rotary movement while the piston is still pulled.
The designs mentioned above are advantageous over designs where the container lid and the pump form an assembly because only one pump is necessary for any number of containers plus lids. However, the handling during the evacuation does not satisfy. In fact, in order to evacuate by means of a piston pump the suction inlet of the pump must be sealingly engaged at or on the lid. Simple urging of the pump inlet onto the lid would be counteracted by the pulling force acting upon the pump piston so that the lid could be lifted, perhaps without the user's even taking notice of.
It is the object of the present invention to provide a kitchen appliance comprising a container, a container lid having a check valve, and a pump by which the container may be partially evacuated via said check valve, the appliance being easy to handle and reliable. Specifically, the appliance in accordance with the invention is designed such that the pump may be simply set onto the lid and will remain hermetically sealed without additional means during the evacuation process, and the sealing action will be the more efficient the greater the force will be with continuous pumping.